Tag: Lectures

Revealing the Collections This program of lectures will showcase some of the rich but little known collections of art and visual culture held at the University of Melbourne. In addition to one of the largest art collections in Victoria, the University houses collections in such diverse areas as classics and archaeology, international Indigenous cultural material, decorative arts, 20th century poster designs, decorative arts, public sculpture and artists’ archives. Come and listen to a series of lectures by art historians, educators and students, who give their insights into the history and significance of their favourite collections.This program of lectures is hosted by the Art History Program in the School of Culture and Communication. Venue: Elisabeth Murdoch Lecture Theatre A, Melbourne University, Parkville. Date: Sunday 29 July 2012, 10.30am–12.00noon; 2.00pm–4.00pm Free Event. All Welcome. No Bookings required. Program 10.30am–10.35am Welcome – Speaker: Assoc Prof Alison Inglis,…

Andrew Lowth on the Berlin Botanic Garden and David Marshall on the Garden Realm of Woerlitz The Garden Realm of Woerlitz is a group of ‘palaces’ and gardens in Anhalt Saxony whose origins lie in the Enlightenment of the late eighteenth century. This massive and fascinating cultural environment features extensive waterways, follies (including an erupting Vesuvius) and gardens based on the English landscape style. Woerlitz was established by Duke Leopold III for the pleasure and education of the public and has always welcomed visitors. David Marshall Constructed between 1887 and 1910, the Botanic Garden Berlin-Dahlem comprises an area of 126 acres. Beckoning like an oasis from the southwest of Berlin, it is is the city’s ‘green jewel’. Together with the Botanical Museum, it is one of the three largest and most important botanical gardens in the world and one that can, in…

Enjoy Your Diversity: the 1960’s Revisited Patrick McCaughey When Clem Greenberg came to Australia in 1968, he admired a lot of Australian painting, more the older moderns than the young mods. But his parting words were: “Enjoy your diversity.” Few took much notice and the 60s has been generally characterised as the time of the young abstractionists with some pop thrown in, ending with the first bits and pieces of Conceptualism. Indeed these were striking new forces on the landscape and so quickly embraced by the institutions. Even the NGV bought from all those exciting first solo shows – Ball, Jacks, Hickey, Hunter etc. The era did have a certain electricity to it: it was the decade of the sell out show and all those fiercely competitive art prizes. I’d like to get some of that ‘electric’ feel across. But…

Between Heaven and Earth: paintings from the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo on show at the National Gallery Australia Dr Claire Renkin Art historian Dr Claire Renkin lectures in spirituality of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, at Yarra Theological Union. In this lecture she examines certain themes of Renaissance paintings with special reference to the exhibition showing at the National Gallery of Australia. Date: Monday 20 February 2012, 5–6pm Venue: The Oratory, Newman College, University of Melbourne, 887 Swanston Street, Parkville Bookings: Email agehrig@newman.unimelb.edu.au Online http://www.trybooking.com/20360 Phone 9342 1614 Lecture Presented by The University of Melbourne and the Allan and Maria Myers Academic Centre – Newman College and St Mary’s College.

Free Public Lecture at State Library of Victoria Voices in artists books – the collaborative venture Sasha Grishin The artists book frequently brings together the creative endeavours of many individuals, who may include the artist, the poet, the letterpress artisan and the binder, amongst others. Each of these ‘collaborators’ has a particular and distinctive ‘voice’. In this lecture Professor Sasha Grishin explores some strategies involved in listening to voices in artists books. Professor Sasha Grishin AM FAHA is the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History at the Australian National University and works internationally as an art historian, critic and curator. He has published 18 books and over a thousand articles dealing with various aspects of art, especially printmaking and artists’ books. Professor Grishin is currently undertaking an Honorary Creative Fellowship at the State Library of Victoria. Venue: State Library of…

Professor Karen Franck: The Changing Design of Public Memorials Professor Karen Franck, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Associate Professor Quentin Stevens, from RMIT’s School of Architecture and Design, are collaborating on a major research project on the design and use of public memorials. The project is unique in examining both temporary memorials erected by members of the public and official permanent memorials. It draws upon first-hand observations of both kinds of memorials at the sites of terrorist attacks in New York and London. The researchers also focus on visitor experience of recent abstract memorials, including examples stretching from Berlin to Melbourne to Washington. The collaborators are currently writing a book Spaces of Engagement: Memorial Design, Use and Meaning. They are also joining RMIT Landscape Architecture Professor SueAnne Ware on a grant proposal to study the complex procurement process for public memorials. Professor Franck will deliver the following public…

Margaret Manion Lecture 2011 To be a Pilgrim Shane Carmody In this lecture Shane Carmody will explore the provenance and relevance of a medieval manuscript held in the collection of the State Library of Victoria: The pilgrimage of the lyfe of the manhode and The pilgrimage of the sowle. This manuscript dates from 1430 and is an English prose translation of the famous work written by the French Cistercian Guillaume de Deguileville a century earlier. The translation had a major impact on the English imagination through the upheaval of the Reformation and later religious conflicts, and its metaphors still resonate today. This crudely made and graphically illustrated book was conserved and restored for the State Library of Victoria’s exhibition The Medieval Imagination: Illuminated Manuscripts from Cambridge, Australia and New Zealand. An exhibition curated by Margaret Manion and seen by over 1000 000 people in 2008.…

Free public lecture on Art and Science Art and Science: Issues in Cross-Disciplinary Research, or Why Artists Don’t Speak to Scientists Professor James Elkins Professor James Elkins holds the Chadbourne Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This lecture will draw on Professor Elkins’ related book on the topic of the intersection of art and science, summarizing six case-studies about the problematics of cross-disciplinary representation and the problems faced by researchers in communicating across disciplines, drawing on images in painting, photography, microscopy, astronomy, particle physics, and quantum mechanics. Event details Date: Wednesday 6 July, 2011 Venue: Federation Hall, Victorian College of the Arts, Grant St, Southbank Free Admission but please email vcam-research@unimelb.edu.au to register your attendance. For further information see the website http://www.vcam.unimelb.edu.au/events?id=191 or see James Elkins’ website http://www.jameselkins.com/

Kodak Salon Lecture George Eastman House: Past, Present, Future Dr Alison Nordström will survey the history of George Eastman House—the oldest museum of its kind in the world—since its opening in 1947. Nordström will address the formation of Eastman House collections and the influence of those collections on our understanding of photographic history. She will discuss the seminal Eastman House exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-altered Landscape (1975). In its day, New Topographics signalled the emergence of a new approach to landscape photography. Finally, Nordström will consider how contemporary artists like Abelardo Morrell, Mark Klett and Simon Norfolk are using nineteenth century material to explore the contents and form of the historical archive.www.eastmanhouse.org Alison Nordström is Curator of Photographs at George Eastman House. She was the Founding Director and Senior Curator of the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida…

Alison Carroll, curator and author, presents a lecture on Asian art in the twentieth century. There is a gap in our of knowledge of what connects the pre-twentieth century dominance of ‘traditional’ Asian arts and the rise of the internationally celebrated contemporary art of the region today. This lecture gives an overview of the main trends in the art of the region over the course of the twentieth century, from the iconoclastic young Japanese of the 1900s, to the passionate nation-building of artists in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines mid century, and to the blossoming of artistic practice across all countries in the 1980s. Find out about a period too little known by us all, see images of near neighbours that parallel many artists in Australia and add to your understanding of this amazing region. Date: Wednesday May 18th, 6:30pm.…

Inner Worlds – Portraits & Psychology This intriguing exhibition highlights points of intense connection between psychology and portraiture in Australian art and social history. It includes portraits of influential women and men of psychology from World War I to the 1950s, and portraits by artists inspired by the inner worlds of the subconscious from the 1940s to now. In conjunction with the exhibition the National Portrait Gallery is hosting a series of lectures. Saturdays in May and June, 2:00 – 3:00pm. All lectures are free. For further information and enquiries visit the NPG website: http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/programs_category.php?categoryId=47 Lecture series The art of Inner Worlds Date: Saturday 7 May, 2.00 – 3.00pm Venue: Liangis Theatre Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art. Christopher discusses the work of Australian artists Albert Tucker,…

Cities for People Jan Gehl In his new book Cities for People, Gehl writes “City life and regard for people in city space must have a key role in the planning of cities and built-up areas.” Renowned Danish architect Jan Gehl, and frequent visitor to Melbourne, will discuss his new book, his life long experience of urban development and the increasing connections between physical form and human behaviour. Join this timely conversation as Melburnians grapple with the issues of growth, liveability and sustainability. Moderators: Professor Rob Adams, Director of City Design for the City of Melbourne and Jill Garner, Associate Victorian Government Architect, The Office of Victorian Government Architect will form a panel discussion with Jan Gehl following his lecture. Time: 6.00 to 7.15pm – entry from 5.30pm Date: Monday 2 May 2011 Venue: Lower Town Hall, Melbourne Town Hall, Swanston Street, Melbourne Free Entry – RSVP essential:…

Susan Scollay – Guest co-curator, Love and Devotion: from Persia and Beyond, March – June, 2010 ‘Gardens of Love: Persian Poetry and its Admirers’ Transcending place and time, classic love stories found in Persian poetry have been reflected in western culture, with parallels in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare and in the lyrics of rock stars today. In March–June 2012, the State Library will present a major exhibition, Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond, featuring rare books and manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford. Enjoy a preview of the exhibition as co-curator Susan Scollay, an art historian specialising in Islamic culture, reveals the beauty of Persian poetry and its vibrant tales of human and divine love. Date: Wednesday 6 April, 2011, 6pm. Venue: Village Roadshow Theatre, State Library of Victoria. Attendance is free. All Welcome.…

Lectures Deanna Petherbridge – The Primacy of Drawing Deanna Petherbridge is an artist, writer and curator primarily concerned with drawing. Her recent book The Primacy of Drawing: Histories and Theories of Practice is about the direct experience of artists, the historical role of drawing and its relationship to the sciences. From the publisher’s website: This important and original book affirms the significance of drawing as visual thinking in western art from the fifteenth century to the present through an examination of its practice: how and why it is made, how it relates to other forms of visual production and theories of art, and what artists themselves have written about it. The author herself is a practicing artist, and through scrutinizing a wide range of drawings in various media, she confirms a long historical commitment to the primal importance of sketching in…